Setting up Fedora 7 on a ex-Windows machine (Ottawa)

[Aaron Konstam]

On Sat, 2008-02-02 at 10:39 -0800, M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:
> James wrote:
> > Hello OLPC people!
> > 
> > I am working on a Snakes and Ladders game for the XO, to help young  
> > children learn to count.  You can find my first draft of the game  
> > here: <http://olpc-dev.fuelindustries.com/snakes_080116.zip>.
> > 
> > 
> > I'm looking for help in getting Fedora 7 to run on a Sony Vaio PCG- 
> > GRT796HP laptop that used to run Windows.  It's a Pentium 4, running  
> > at 2.67 GHz, with 512 MB of RAM.  I've spent several hours trying  
> > various approaches and distributions, without success.
> > 
> > This is my first excursion into Linux territory, and I'm still finding  
> > my feet with Python.  I'm more at ease with development on Macintosh,  
> > and have only scraped the surface of using the Terminal.  Please don't  
> > hesitate to spoonfeed me in all things Linux and Python.
> > 
> > What I can do
> > -------------
> > I'd almost given up hope of getting the Vaio to run Fedora when I  
> > tried using the XO LiveCD from <http://dev.laptop.org/pub/ 
> > livebackupcd>.  This worked perfectly, which encourages me to believe  
> > that the issue is not with the machine but with what I am doing to it.
> > 
> > Where I get stuck
> > -----------------
> > I've downloaded the F-7-i386-DVD.iso file from <http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/torrents//Fedora-7-i386.torrent 
> >  >, and burnt it to a DVD-ROM. The initial menu screen appears.  If I  
> > choose the default (graphic) installation, eventually the screen  
> > starts to display vibrant pulsing graphics which I do not believe are  
> > intended.  If I choose the text mode for installation, and step  
> > through the various screens, I eventually run into a bug in the  
> > installer script.
> > 
> > Rodney Smith entered a description of the bug into the RedHat bugbase  
> > on 2007-07-08, but there seems to have been no movement on it since  
> > then.  This leads me to believe that there must be an obvious  
> > workaround, so others have just side-stepped the bug and moved on.
> > 
> > The original bug report was marked as NEEDINFO, so I supplied that  
> > info on 2008-01-21.  You can read the complete report here:
> > 
> > https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=247399
First I assuume that you did a sucessfule media check.
> > 
> > What I'm hoping to do
> > ---------------------
> > My aim is to install a version of Linux as close to the XO version as  
> > possible.  This will make it easier for me to get into the correct  
> > mindset and best practices for developing for the XO.  I'm not married  
> > to the idea of getting Fedora 7 to run if the line of least resistance  
> > is to install something similar.
> > 
> > In his bug report, Rodney Smith notes that "System previously had fc5  
> > that was installed using a dvd and the graphical interface without a  
> > hitch and that ran fine."
> > 
> > I've looked for a downloadable version of Fedora Core 5 or 6 for a x86  
> > machine, but all the links that I have found end up at the Get Fedora  
> > page, which now limits itself to downloads of Fedora 7 and 8 <http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora 
> >  >.
> > 
> > I get a similar bug when I try installing Fedora 8.  I've also tried  
> > installing Ubuntu 6, but run into the graphic-interface-shows-vibrant- 
> > pulsing-graphics issue.
> >  >
> > If it hadn't been for XO-LiveCD_080130.iso performing perfectly on the  
> > machine, I'd have written off my Sony Vaio as being incompatible with  
> > Linux.
> > 
> > 
> > If anyone can help me get some version of Linux installed on the  
> > machine, I'd be most grateful.  If there are any Python developers on  
> > this list in the Ottawa area, I'd be interested to hear from them too.
> > 
> > Thanks in advance,
> > 
> > James
Second, I hope you did not do what the bug poster did, that is , allow
the machine to set up a default partitioning. 
If you understand how fdisk works, at the point that patitioning is
asked for, type ctl-alt-F2 which willget you to a termineal then 
remove all partitioning at partition from scratch. Have a swap partition
= to 1 of 2x Ram size and the rest make into /.
Then type ctl-alt-f7 to tqake you back to anaconda and continue.
This is in tex installation. You cna then use the gui partitioning tool
to make any final editing of the partitions. 

It may still fail to install but you have started out without mysterious
partitioning problems which should help.
--
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Darth Vader! Only you would be so bold! -- Princess Leia Organa
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Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: akonstam at sbcglobal.net